THE UNDERDOG
by storiesbyAbby
Summary: He didn't know he had it in him until she made him realize.


THE UNDERDOG

**A/N: ** All Abhijeet and Daya lovers, better stay away from this one. Thanks to .passion for creating this awesome ship.

"Damn! He's here!" He thought to himself as he walked inside the office.

"Well hello there Pankaj!" Said Abhijeet with a smirk.

"He-he-hello Sir! Hope you have a g-g-good morning!" He stammered.

"We are indeed having a good morning, P-P-Pankaj!" Daya imitated him and the two doubled up in laughter.

Pankaj slipped from there unnoticed by Abhijeet and Daya. He was on his way to the restroom when he came face-to-face with Purvi. But he just walked past her as if he didn't notice her.

"WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?" He shouted at his reflection in the mirror inside the restroom.

Stammering is a problem that he had developed ever since his college days. He faced this problem whenever he was nervous. He had undergone speech therapy but it was of no use.

He always felt nervous whenever he was in front of the two senior inspectors of CID. And the fact that they teased him for this, made matters even worse.

He splashed some water onto his face and put on his glasses once again. As he looked at the mirror for the second time and found Nikhil standing there behind him.

He forwarded him a tissue without saying anything. Pankaj accepted that tissue quietly.

"Purvi was asking if you would like to come down to the caféteria with us." Nikhil told him.

Pankaj let out a sigh in order to steady his voice.

"I'm coming." He said in a calm voice.

"Fine." Said Nikhil with a smile and left him there.

"Why are you so afraid of them?" He asked his reflection once again.

"Because they know your weakness and they like to make fun of you for that." His brain answered back at once.

After sometime he came out and found Purvi waiting for him.

"Pankaj you really are a great officer, trust me." She said with a smile.

"You're only saying that because you are my friend, Purvi." He said.

"Pankaj, just wait till the day you find it out yourself." Purvi said with an assuring smile. "You are an asset to the team. It's just that the team hasn't realised this yet." She added.

He just smiled in reply. But his expression told her that he wasn't convinced.

"Shall we?" He asked pointing towards the door, trying his best to change the topic.

They found that Nikhil had already ordered three cups of coffee for them as they reached the café.

"Thanks Nikhil." Pankaj said meekly.

"Pankaj, for heavens sake youdon't have to thank me." Said Nikhil. "I know you feel bad when they do that to you but they are like that. They love to have fun at others' expense." He added.

"A CID officer's not supposed to have any weakness." Pankaj argued.

"Honestly Pankaj, I don't know what makes you think that you're weak." Said Purvi.

"Who is weak?" Asked a voice behind them. They turned around to see Abhijeet standing there.

"Sir?" Asked Purvi, wondering if he had heard Nikhil's words.

"An accident has been reported. I want you and Pankaj to go with Daya to the spot." He said, looking towards Purvi.

"Right sir!" She said and the trio headed back to the bureau.

They accompanied Daya to the spot. After talking to the people they got to know that it was a hit-and-run case.

Daya asked Pankaj and Purvi to record the witness' statement.

After their investigation they headed back to the bureau.

"Sir, I rem- uh, I" Pankaj started.

"You remember something and need some time off, right?" Daya asked.

Pankaj just nodded in reply.

"Fine then, go ahead." Said Daya as he got into the car.

Purvi, who was about to get in knew what Pankaj had in his mind.

"Sir, d'you mind if I accompany him?" She asked.

"No." The senior inspector said with a shrug.

After about an hour, Pankaj and Purvi walked into the bureau.

"Where were you?" Abhijeet asked. "You're supposed to be working on the case. What did you find at the crime scene."

"Sir? We?" Pankaj asked, taken aback.

"Yes, you. Do I have to teach you how to look for clues now?" Abhijeet was losing his cool.

"B-But Sir, D-Daya sir was looking for clues. We were recording the witness' statement." Pankaj somehow managed to say.

ACP Pradyuman fired a glance towards Daya who didn't know how to handle the situation.

"Sir, Daya must have found something." Abhijeet said, trying to protect his best friend.

"Then why isn't he showing it?" ACP Pradyuman asked "Unless he is trying to protect the accused, of course."

"Sir, I think I gave it to Pankaj." Said Daya.

"No Sir!" Said Pankaj. "We never went towards the accident spot and netiher did we get into car. When did you give it to me?"

"Why the heck can't he stutter now?" Abhijeet hissed into Daya's ears.

"Abhijeet, if you have to say something then why don't you say it out aloud?" The Assistant Commissioner asked.

"Me? Saying something? No sir!" Abhijeet replied hastily.

However, the elderly gentleman kept eyeing him with suspicion for a few more seconds before turning towards Pankaj and Purvi.

"What did you two find?" He asked.

"Sir, the accused was driving a white Honda Civic." Said Purvi.

"Then we need to contact the RTO." Said ACP Pradyuman.

"S-Sir, there's CCTV camera installed to monitor the traffic movements there." Said Pankaj.

"Then contact the city police headquarters for the footage." ACP Pradyuman ordered.

"Sir-" Said Pankaj holding out a pen drive.

"What's this?" ACP Pradyuman asked.

"The footage sir." Said Pankaj, trying to flash his most innocent look.

Abhijeet and Daya's jaws dropped at this. Behind them Nikhil hastily turned his laughter into a cough.

"You should learn something from him." Snapped ACP Pradyuman at one of his most trusted lietenants before heading back to his cabin.

"Pankaj, you were supposed to submit all these things to us." Said Abhijeet in a threatening voice as he took a step towards him.

"But sir, ACP sir was already there with you when we arrived. If we tried to give it to you in front of him…" Purvi didn't complete her sentence.

"Then why didn't you tell me where you were going?" Now it was Daya's turn to speak up.

"S-S-Sir, w-we didn't wanna" Pankaj tried to say, but Abhijeet's actions made him so nervous that he couldn't complete the sentence.

"Huh! Just write it down. It saves time." Snapped Abhijeet and both he and Daya left the place.

"Thanks Purvi! You are just awesome!" Said Pankaj, grinning.

"Me? It was your idea as far as I remember." Said Purvi, taken aback.

"Ok, truce! It was our idea." Said Pankaj, grinning from ear to ear.

***flashback***

At the accident spot,

"Purvi look, there's a CCTV camera there. You think we should inform Daya sir?" Pankaj asked.

"Just keep quiet. We'll collect the information ourselves this time." Said Purvi.

"But he's leading the investigation." Pankaj argued.

"Listen, if you wanna give him all the details go ahead. But I'm gonna solve this one on my own." Purvi said.

"Purvi, you know what my answer is, don't you?" Pankaj smiled.

Purvi did not say anything. She just smiled in return.

"So, first we need to contact the local traffic guard for the footage, then the RTO for the owner of the car. And we also need to collect the footage." Said Pankaj.

When he finished, he found Purvi staring at him weirdly.

"Uh, did I say something wrong?" Pankaj asked nervously.

"You just came up with a brilliant work schedule and you still think that you can never become a good officer?" Purvi said. "Honestly Pankaj, it's time for you to stop underestimating yourself."

"Then we can go ahead?" Pankaj asked, with an evil grin.

"You bet!" Purvi grinned back.

***flashback ends***

**A/N: **I know it's not good but do post a review letting me know what you people think of it.


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